Space Photos of the Day 06/14

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This image from the Solar Dynamics Observatory’s Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) shows in great detail a solar prominence taken from a March 30, 2010 eruption. The twisting motion of the material is the most noticeable feature. NASA/SDO/AIA

The Supernova 1994D in Galaxy NGC 4526, seen here, was taken by the Hubble Key Project Team and the High-Z Supernova Search Team. NASA/ESA

This June 10 NASA image, acquired by the GOES satellite on May 30, shows thermal energy in the Western Hemisphere. The areas that are warmest and therefore emitting the most thermal energy are white and pale gray. The desert lining the Pacific coast of South America is a bright white strip in the lower center of the globe. The coldest regions emitting the least amount of thermal energy are dark gray and black. AFP/NASA/Newscom

On March 13, 2008, the International Space Station passed across the field-of-view of Germany's remote sensing satellite, TerraSAR-X, at a distance of 195 kilometers, or 122 miles, and at a relative speed of 34,540 kilometers per hour, or more than 22,000 mph. Since this image was taken, the station has expanded and is more than 90 percent complete, including a full complement of solar arrays. DLR/NASA

The X-51A successfully made the longest supersonic combustion ramjet-powered hypersonic flight to date off the southern California coast on May 26. It was powered by a SJX61-2 that was first validated in a NASA wind tunnel. The air-breathing scram jet engine, built by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, burned for more than 200 seconds to accelerate the U.S. Air Force's X-51A vehicle to Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound. NASA

Dramatic plumes, both large and small, spray water ice out from many locations along the famed 'tiger stripes' near the south pole of Saturn's moon Enceladus. The tiger stripes are fissures that spray icy particles, water vapor and organic compounds.This mosaic was created from two high-resolution images that were captured by the narrow-angle camera when NASA's Cassini spacecraft flew past Enceladus and through the jets on Nov. 21. Imaging the jets over time will allow Cassini scientists to study the consistency of their activity. NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

File photo taken by Hayabusa probe and released by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Hayabusa probe (center r.), casts its shadow on asteroid Itokawa. Scientists scanned the night sky over the Australian Outback late June 13 for the long-delayed return of the first spacecraft to complete a round-trip journey to an asteroid. Launched by Japan in 2003, Hayabusa is expected to be carrying space material collected during its two brief landings on the asteroid. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency/AP

A photo taken on June 13, and released June 14 shows the capsule carried by the Hayabusa spacecraft burning up over South Australia on re-entry, leaving the heat-resistant pod to parachute back to land within the Woomera military zone in Australia. The Japanese space capsule which landed in the remote Australian Outback is set to be retrieved by scientists who are hoping it contains the first asteroid sample ever brought to earth. JAXA/AFP/Getty Images/Newscom

In an image grab from video footage released by NASA on June 14, Japan's Hayabusa spacecraft (l.) burns up as it enters Earth's atmosphere as the smaller heat-resistant capsule (r.) released by the space probe streaks ahead toward Earth to land in the Australian Outback. NASA/AFP/Newscom

NASA astronaut Steve Bowen, STS-132 mission specialist, participates in one of the mission's spacewalks on May 19. NASA/Newscom

As Venezuelan politicians prepare for long-delayed gubernatorial elections, some opposition members have argued that their participation would validate the increasingly undemocratic government. But memories of a backfiring boycott in 2005 have hung over the decision.

Since April, Venezuela’s opposition coalition seemed to be gaining the kind of support and momentum it was long criticized for lacking. Its calls for peaceful protests and boycotts were met by a broad, consistent turnout, and an unofficial referendum it organized in July led more than 7 million Venezuelans at home and abroad to condemn the increasingly authoritarian moves of President Nicolás Maduro’s government.